Objects in the Rearview Mirror
by AdamPascalFan
Summary: Patrick gets stranded and who should come to his rescue but Lucky Spencer? Just some friendly bonding I want to happen! One shot and complete


**Objects In the Rearview Mirror**

Patrick Drake kicked the front tire of his car. Just as he suspected it didn't accomplish anything but causing his foot to ache but he had felt a fraction better. Well for a moment anyway.

He slammed down the hood. Why hadn't he listened to his father when he suggested Patrick take an auto shop course in high school? At the time any suggestion of Noah's had guaranteed Patrick's immediate decision to do the opposite. But now he wished like hell he had. Maybe then he could figure out what was wrong with his car! As it was, he the great world famous neurosurgeon couldn't make heads or tails of the maze of wires and machinery that lay underneath his hood.

Patrick fished for his cell phone. He needed to call Robin and tell her he was going to be late. He needed to call the auto club and get a tow truck out here. He dialed Robin first and waited for the call to connect. And waited. And waited. And waited.

He almost threw the phone clear across the road when the "No Service Available" screen flashed before his eyes. Of all the freaking luck!

"What? You going to make it rain now?" he yelled in frustration to the heavens.

He half expected a roll of thunder in response. Instead the unmistakable roar of an engine made its presence known. Patrick peered behind him and spotted the 1950s truck heading in his direction. He began to wave his arms and ran over when the driver pulled off to the side of the road just in front of him.

When the driver and Patrick made eye contact, both suppressed the urge to groan. "I would have taken the thunderstorm," Patrick muttered. He would have taken anything than deal with this cruel fact.

Right now, the only person who could help him was Lucky Spencer.

Lucky was personally regretting ever listening to his mother when she told him to be nice to people in trouble. He really should have listened more to his father who would tell him stopping to help strangers was like pissing in the wind. Pointless and ultimately always came back in your face.

He should get right back in his truck and keep on driving. But he had a suspicion his wife would not be too happy with him if she ever found out he did that. And as he had no doubt Patrick would mention it to Robin if he did and then Robin would tell Epiphany, who would tell Elizabeth….well he did not want to be on the receiving end of THAT gossip chain thank you very much.

Deciding that biting this bullet would be a much less painful alternative, he steeled his shoulders. "Car trouble?"

For a moment Patrick debated on denying anything was wrong. He was pretty sure Lucky wouldn't call him on it and would be more than happy to drive away. But the truth was he was dangerously close to being late for a date with Robin. It was fun to make Robin mad when he wasn't actually in trouble for anything. But to be on the receiving end when he was? That was just not a pleasant experience. No matter how much fun it was later making up!

Silently vowing to send whatever deity found this situation to be humorous to hell the first chance he had, Patrick reluctantly nodded. "Yeah. I don't know what happened. She just died on me. And I get no service here."

Lucky nodded in agreement. "Dead zone. Happens all the time. The scanners don't even work in this area." He moved towards the new model Mustang. "Nice car" he noted as he motioned for Patrick to open the hood. "What happened?"

Patrick shrugged. "I don't know. I was driving and it just died on me." He looked at Lucky suspiciously. "Do you actually know how to fix cars?"

Lucky motioned his head towards his own truck. "My dad always fixed his old Caddie. I had to learn to fix Betsy. She's not cheap to keep running. I'm not sure about this model but if you had a classic Mustang? Most likely I could do it no problem."

The two men fell into a tense silence as Lucky checked levels and wires. Not finding anything obvious, he moved to the door and held out his hands for Patrick's keys. "I just want to hear what she sounds like when you try to turn her over."

Patrick handed over the keys and waited while Lucky tried in vain to get the engine to come to life. When Lucky emerged from the car laughing, Patrick felt his irritation begin to rise. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh just figured out why your car died is all."

Patrick glared. Really he was in hell. Why couldn't his father or Nikolas Cassadine or even that Sonny Corrinthos come to his rescue? No it had to be Lucky Spencer. And he was having far too much fun at his expense.

Lucky tried to contain himself but it was just too funny. He took a deep breath. "You see doctor, for a car to work, you do need," he paused to compose himself. He really didn't need to laugh through this. "You do need gas in the tank."

Patrick stalked past Lucky and groaned when he saw that Lucky was exactly right. The gas pump light was mocking him. He must have been so distracted about getting to Robin's on time that he completely missed it blinking. He leaned his head on his steering wheel. This one he so wasn't going to live down. Even if by some miracle Lucky didn't tell everyone, once he explained why he was late to Robin, no doubt she would share it.

Of course how exactly he was going to get to Robin in order to explain this to her was a bit of a mystery to him right now.

"Come on. I'll give you a ride."

Patrick lifted his head and shook it. Surely he must have heard wrong. He wondered if he was hearing voices. No way had Lucky Spencer just offered him a ride.

"Come again?"

Lucky sighed in irritation. He was trying to be nice to the guy but he sure was making it difficult. "I said I'll give you a ride." He slowly pronounced each word. Seeing Patrick still starring in shock he shrugged his shoulders. "You want to deal with Elizabeth and Robin when they find out you refused a ride and I let you do it?"

Seeing his point, Patrick locked his door. "Lead on."

The drive towards Robin's was quiet except for the low hum of the radio. Patrick shifted uncomfortably and kept checking his cell phone for service. The sooner he could call Robin the better. The sooner this ride was over the better.

"You're still another two miles or so from service Drake."

Patrick grimaced. "And I know because the scanners go out in the squad car here all the time. We know exactly how long it is before we can get service back." Lucky hastened to add to keep Patrick's sure-to-be-snide comment at bay.

Lucky smiled at winning this round when he saw Patrick slowly put the cell phone down. 'Score one for Spencer' he thought as he turned the volume up on the radio.

The unmistakable chords of The Rolling Stones filled the cab as "Brown Sugar" began.

"Good song." They both said at the same time.

Startled they looked at each other and smiled. Always eager to talk good music, Lucky decided to press ahead. "Yeah the Stones are great. I love this song. I mean most people say "Satisfaction" but that's so…"

"Obvious." Supplied Patrick surprised. Could it be someone else shared his view? Nervously, he continued where Lucky had stopped. "Take the Beatles. "Yesterday" was a great song, but for my money give me "In My Life" any day."

Lucky nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! And then you get into Elvis man. I mean yeah "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock" were great! But the King was never more the King that when he sang "Suspicious Minds"."

To his credit Patrick tried to snuffle the snort of laughter when Lucky named Elvis's greatest song. Lucky grinned. "Go ahead and laugh. Elizabeth teases me about it all the time. I admit its funny."

"No I'm not laughing because of that, although you're right that is hilarious. No I'm laughing because that is the exact song I always cite as Elvis's greatest. The only person in the world who agrees with me on the best songs by the Stones, the Beatles and Elvis and its you." Patrick started to laugh in earnest now. "Come on you have to admit its funny. Me and you agreeing on anything is funny!"

Lucky tried to keep it back but Patrick had a point. He laughed with Patrick as the Stones faded away.

"Hey you can get service now." Lucky said as he realized how far they had driven.

Patrick quickly dialed Robin's number. He prayed she wasn't too mad.

She picked up on the first ring. Not a good sign.

"Robin.. I know I'm late but…"

"Dr. Drake." Oh boy. Even worse sign. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Look Robin I screwed up. But my car ran out of gas and there was no cell phone service and now Lucky's giving me a ride and…."

"Lucky's giving you a ride?" Robin's voice sounded incredulous. "That has got to be one of the biggest lies you have ever said in your entire life Patrick!"

"But its true." Patrick pressed his phone to Lucky. "Tell her."

"Hey Robin. Patrick's car is dead and I'm giving him a ride. We should be there soon."

"Well ok Lucky" Robin still sounded stunned. "Let me talk to Patrick."

Patrick grinned and whispered thanks to Lucky as he took his phone back. "So I'll see you soon." He hung up quickly to avoid any further explanations.

"Listen man…" Patrick fell silent as Lucky held up his hand.

"Wait for it."

After a minute Lucky started counting down from five with his hands. When he got to one, "My Girl" started to ring on his cell phone.

Lucky held his finger up in Patrick's direction. "Hi Elizabeth. I know I'm a little late but I'll be home soon."

"Oh ok. Well I just wanted to say hi."

He tried to bite back the chuckle. "Robin called you about two seconds after Patrick hung up didn't she?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Elizabeth. You are a terrible liar."

"Ok fine. She did. I had to hear for myself. I mean come on honey. This is not your everyday occurrence."

"What? I'm a nice guy!"

"Yes you are. Just not to Patrick."

"True. But can we talk about this later? I'll be home soon as I drop him off at Robin's."

"We will be discussing this further Lucky. But I'll see you when you get home. Be careful!"

"I promise. I love you." He knew as soon as he said that Patrick was going to have a field day with it.

"Love you too."

As soon as Lucky hung up, Patrick mimicked in a singsong voice "I love you." He shook his head. "Man what are you 14?"

"Actually Elizabeth tells me all the time I'm closer to 15. Look you can think its sappy and whatever, but I love my wife and I really don't care who knows it."

A few months ago, Patrick would have laughed. He would have had some sort of comment for that. But now, well while he wasn't sure where he and Robin were headed, he could respect that feeling.

"Don't blame you on that one man. After all, she does have to work with me."

Out of the corner of his eye, Lucky caught the smile and realized Patrick was joking with him. He smiled back. "Hey we're here."

Lucky slowed the car to a stop and Patrick jumped out. As he turned to close the door, he met Lucky's eye. "Hey listen man, thanks."

Lucky waved him off. "Go see Robin. You stay out here any longer and I'm getting another phone call from my wife in two minutes."

Patrick laughed. "Don't want that."


End file.
